By Mark Currie, Daily Post
29 December 2004
The ball sat up for him well and he spanked it superbly into the top corner
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Denis Smith on Mark Jones' goal |
IF there's one message Wrexham boss Denis
Smith has been trying to get across since the start of the season it is that
there is no substitute for experience.
Shorn for much of the campaign of several influential members of his squad, the
Dragons boss has mixed and matched as best he could and - notwithstanding the
odd blip along the way - can look back on a pretty decent job to show for his
efforts.
But the Bank Holiday performance against a refreshingly open Chester-field
outfit will, no doubt, have given him particular pleasure as the Dragons
recorded their best home win thus far.
And it was due in no small part to the contributions made by striker Chris
Armstrong and midfield dynamo Alex Smith, who could collectively count just 21
league starts between them before yesterday.
The injury-prone Armstrong produced his most effective display of a stop-start
season, providing the assists for all three of his side's goals and going close
himself to adding a fourth.
Smith, too, played a not inconsiderable role in a welcome victory, combining
prodigious industry and the occasional glimpse of genuine class to provide the
energy which put the visitors on the back foot for much of the game.
Yet he feels sure that Wrexham fans have yet to see the best of him.
"I need a run of games," he said afterwards. "It's been stop and start for me
too often this season but the more I play, the quicker I'll be playing the way I
would like."
He set out his stall as early as the fifth minute when he burst forward to the
edge of the penalty area and let fly, his shot cannoning off Alex Bailey, and
Wrexham took their cue from the combative midfielder to take the game to their
opponents.
Owing their fans a performance following the Hartlepool debacle in their
previous home outing, the Dragons were using the full width of the playing area
through Andy Holt and Jim Whitley.
While Smith, Darren Ferguson and Mark Jones were probing through the middle and
the Welsh under-21 international showed great skill in the 11th minute to
release Chris Llewellyn, whose control let him down at the vital moment.
But it mattered little because the Chesterfield defence was prised apart three
minutes later when Holt took a Ferguson pass to deliver a deep cross.
Armstrong rose at the far post to head the ball back into the six yard box where
Steve Roberts nodded home his third league goal of the season.
Sammy Clingan, on loan from Wolves, denied the home side a second goal in the
19th minute, whipping the ball off Llewellyn's foot and the striker then flashed
a half-chance across the face of Carl Muggleton's goal as the visitors struggled
to get a foothold in the game.
When they did venture forward, it was Clingan who swapped passes with Mark
Hudson to force Andy Dibble into his first save on the half-hour and three
minutes later Hudson had a decent opportunity, but could only fire weakly at the
Wrexham keeper.
And the Dragons went further ahead nine minutes before the break with possibly
the goal of the season from Jones, who had been recalled at the expense of
teenager Levi Mackin. Armstrong, who had been full of running, won an aerial
battle with the rugged Steve Blathwerwick and, as the ball dropped, Jones struck
a ferocious first-time effort from 20 yards that ripped into the roof of the
net.
"It was a great strike," said the admiring Smith. "The ball sat up for him well
and he spanked it superbly into the top corner. But the important thing was that
it set us up for a win we needed on a difficult pitch."
MATCH FACTS |
WREXHAM: Dibble; Pejic, Roberts, Lawrence; Whitley, Mark Jones (Mackin 82), Ferguson, Smith, Holt; Llewellyn, Armstrong (Ugarte 87). Subs: Michael Jones, Morgan, Sam. Booked: Armstrong.
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CHESTERFIELD: Muggleton; Bailey, Evatt, Blatherwick, Nicholson; Niven (Smith 56), Clingan, Hudson, Allott; Stallard (De Bolla 67), Folan (Allison 78).
Subs: O'Hare, Innes.
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REFEREE: Mark Cowburn |
MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Armstrong - The striker had a hand in all three goals |
But victory was not cut and dried when, with half
time approaching, Chesterfield gave themselves something to cling to as they
pulled one back as a result of some fluid play, which involved Shane Nicholson
and Hudson before Mark Stallard drilled a low shot past Dibble.
It was one of the few occasions the Wrexham defence had looked vulnerable and
their confidence was further tested at the beginning of the second half when
Stallard was twice denied in the space of five minutes by fine saves from
Dibble.
There were those who questioned the wisdom of Racecourse boss Denis Smith in
recalling the veteran following his recent two-month injury layoff but his
crucial contribution was underlined as the Dragons recovered their composure to
restore the two-goal cushion.
It was tough on Muggleton, who matched Dibble's heroics by clawing a 59th-minute
header by Armstrong from under his crossbar, but within two minutes Chesterfield
had conceded a corner and when Armstrong met Ferguson's kick, Llewellyn pounced
to lash the ball into the net from close range.
The visitors, who had arrived in North Wales entertaining hopes of reinforcing
their play-off credentials, worked hard to salvage something from the game but
Dibble made an important clearance from a Clingan free-kick.
And the home side might have sealed a more emphatic success had efforts from
Jones and Smith been slightly more measured.
But the midfielder was satisfied at the final whistle, choosing to disregard
news of defeat for fellow relegation candidates, Blackpool, who are due next at
the Racecourse in three days' time.
"After getting a good point at Bradford on Sunday it was important we continued
our form and we'd have settled for four points at the start of the week," he
said..
"We don't need to worry what other teams around us are doing as long as we carry
on picking up points."